Bird in the House.

[Bitzeralisis]

Quick. How do I get a bird out of the house? We're cursed with a high foyer roof, so it stays near the top around the maintenance ledges. It could possibly be dangerous if I climbed onto those.

[Collin152]

Didj'a try turning off all the lights and only opening one window with the light coming through it?

[reorith]

1. shoot it
2. pick up its carcass
3. throw it outside
4. ???
5. profit

[Ego Slayer]

^: :smallfurious:

Mm, birds in houses... dealt with many of those. Playing with the lights will help if you can either get it lower, or get up to it, since they won't be able to see, for easy snatchin'. I don't suppose you have a butterfly net, or something? :P I'm not exactly sure what the area looks like, so Iono what to tell ya... *thinks* :smallconfused:

Collin's light suggestion might be worth a shot, especially if you can get something to poke it with, so it'll actually move towards the light.

[Bitzeralisis]

I have a really big and high entryway/foyer. I've already tried the lights thing; the bird keeps flying up, crashing into the higher, smaller windows. I figure I'd need at least five "sentry guards" with poke-y sticks to keep the bird in a confined enough area to even have a chance of getting out the front door, and it would probably hover near unreachable areas if I did do that.

My dad's trying to catch it with a plastic bag right now. Hopefully it doesn't suffocate. :smalleek:

Hmm... I think the easiest way to get rid of the bird is to catch it. That could be dangerous, though (given the possible ten-foot falls onto a very hard surface), and would require some fancy maneuvering onto not-meant-for-use ledges.

Actually, my dad just caught the bird as I spoke, er, typed with a plastic trash bag. :smallcheer: Which cost us a lot less than the first time a bird got into our house, where it got upstairs and we had to get our neighbors to help *and* broke three perfectly good pool-cue-pokey-sticks. :smallsigh:

[Mauve Shirt]

This happened to us once. We caught it the same way we catch out parrot to clip his wings: throw a towel on it when it's close to the ground.
Of course, this wasn't a particularly bright bird.

[BizzaroStormy]

Buy a cat and put a jetpack on it.

[TheThan]

Had a bat fly into ours once.

You know those movies where the city folk go to a cabin and end up with an animal inside. They spend a good 10 minutes with baseball bats, tennis rackets and the like, chasing it around the house.

Well that was us, only we’re not city folk. I managed to shoot it the next day though.

[reorith]

Had a bat fly into ours once.

You know those movies where the city folk go to a cabin and end up with an animal inside. They spend a good 10 minutes with baseball bats, tennis rackets and the like, chasing it around the house.

Well that was us, only we’re not city folk. I managed to shoot it the next day though.

you shot it? why would you do such a thing??!? :smallfrown:

[bosssmiley]

Quick. How do I get a bird out of the house? We're cursed with a high foyer roof, so it stays near the top around the maintenance ledges. It could possibly be dangerous if I climbed onto those.

Hah! We British solved this one decades ago, so I'll offer you the suggestion that the Duke of Norfolk gave to Queen Victoria when it was discovered that pigeons were nesting in the trees inside the original Crystal Palace: "Sparrowhawks ma'am."

[some_other_dave]

you shot it? why would you do such a thing??!? :smallfrown:

Because a very large percentage of bats in the wild have rabies. Not Good.

-soD

[reorith]

Because a very large percentage of bats in the wild have rabies. Not Good.

-soD

behold! i bear the light of knowledge to purge your anthropocentric misinformation! (http://www.batbox.org/#Bats%20and%20Rabies)
edit: rabies is pretty cool, its pretty much fatal and is spread by mammals. opossums and feral cats have turned themselves into bioweapons.

[SoD]

Because a very large percentage of bats in the wild have rabies. Not Good.

-soD

So the obvious solution to an animal which might be deseased is...kill it? Might I suggest that maybe this isn't the best way to go about it? Try and relocate the animal, unless you can proove it's deseased.

-SoD

[Ascension]

So the obvious solution to an animal which might be deseased is...kill it? Might I suggest that maybe this isn't the best way to go about it? Try and relocate the animal, unless you can proove it's deseased.

-SoD

Although rabies is not the best excuse, often the easiest way to deal with a pest is, well, to kill it. I don't imagine you think twice about swatting at mosquitoes or poisoning fire ant beds. What's different about shooting a bat or cutting the head off of a snake? Sure, it's brutal, and it'd be nice if you could avoid it, but sometimes it's just the best you can do.

And with the snake, at least, you can use the meat.

[SoD]

Although rabies is not the best excuse, often the easiest way to deal with a pest is, well, to kill it. I don't imagine you think twice about swatting at mosquitoes or poisoning fire ant beds. What's different about shooting a bat or cutting the head off of a snake? Sure, it's brutal, and it'd be nice if you could avoid it, but sometimes it's just the best you can do.

And with the snake, at least, you can use the meat.

Actually...I don't swat at mosquitoes, and actually let them have a drink from me. I tell people off for killing them. The last time my father poisoned a bullant nest, I held a funeral.

[Ascension]

Actually...I don't swat at mosquitoes, and actually let them have a drink from me. I tell people off for killing them. The last time my father poisoned a bullant nest, I held a funeral.

...

Are you a Jian?

[SoD]

...

Are you a Jian?

A jian? *looks up 'jian' on wikipedia* ...

...a double-edged straight sword used during the last 2,500 years in China? No I'm not.

What else is a Jian?

[Ascension]

Got the letters backwards. Jainism. It's an incredibly, incredibly non-violent Indian religion.

[SoD]

Oh, I see. No, not one of them either. I just don't like things being killed unless there's a decent reason for it.

Killing for food=yes, but do it humanely, and look after the animals beforehand (assuming farm conditions).
Killing because something is dangerous=if it can't be avoided, or moved elsewhere.
Killing in self defense=only if there's no other option.
Killing for fun/sport=no!
Killing because something might be dangerous (or might not)=no.

[Ascension]

I'd count killing mosquitoes as both self defense and elimination of something potentially dangerous. And unless you're slathered in really good bug spray 24/7, you don't really have any other options.

[d'Bwobsling]

This happened to us once. We caught it the same way we catch out parrot to clip his wings: throw a towel on it when it's close to the ground.
Of course, this wasn't a particularly bright bird.

Most birds aren't:smalltongue:

[SoD]

I'd count killing mosquitoes as both self defense and elimination of something potentially dangerous. And unless you're slathered in really good bug spray 24/7, you don't really have any other options.

Admitedly, in my area, we don't have malaria mosquitoes, and for me, although I get a little red bump, it doesn't itch. So unless they land on my fingers or face, they can feast. If they do, I just give them a little push so they leave.

[Serpentine]

I like you, SoD :smallsmile:

One of the big dangers of bats is not rabies, but another disease, I think a prion one. If they bite you, the HAVE to take the bat, kill it, and look in its brain to see whether you're at risk of this disease. So, for the sake of the bat, you should stay away from it. But you don't have to kill it! :smalleek: And I hate when people kill snakes :smallmad:

We used to get starlings fall through our chimney all the time. I'd try to catch it in the fireplace if I could with a tea towel and a plastic bag, but a lot of the time they got out. We'd close all the doors in the house and open the external door and windows. If we could, we'd chase it out or catch it. If we couldn't, we'd just leave it til it went out on its own.

[reorith]

lol prions. brb, building bathouses to place in the park near the middle school.

op, is there still a bird in your house? like you said you caught it but then what did you do with it?

[TigerHunter]

I subscribe to SoD's philosophy with most things, but I built in an exception for flies and mosquitos, on the basis that they serve no purpose other than to spread disease.

I justify this by pointing out that my immune system commits xenocide on a massive scale every minute. If killing things that may be harmful to me is a basic part of my biology, one that I cannot avoid even if I wanted to, I don't see how killing other, larger things that may be harmful to me is any different.

But yes, don't kill the bird, please. If the plastic bag idea fails, try covering up the higher windows, if you can't just open them.

[SoD]

I justify this by pointing out that my immune system commits xenocide on a massive scale every minute. If killing things that may be harmful to me is a basic part of my biology, one that I cannot avoid even if I wanted to, I don't see how killing other, larger things that may be harmful to me is any different.

Well, there is a difference: you can't choose to have your body not kill all those microbes, but you can choose not to kill that fly, or mosquito.

That being said, I'm glad that people are agreeing (generally) with my philosophy. No, it's not perfect, but it's nice.

I also think it would be nice if every time someone does something nice for you, without you asking them, using a pen, draw three lines on your arm. For every line, do something nice for someone else without being asked.

[TigerHunter]

Well, there is a difference: you can't choose to have your body not kill all those microbes, but you can choose not to kill that fly, or mosquito.
However, I don't see why a fly or mosquito is any different than the bajillions of parasites I ingest with every meal. Just because they're larger doesn't make their lives worth any more, or make them less of a threat to my safety. (West Nile Virus is a very serious threat around here.)

Edit: And I can also choose not to take medicine that will strengthen my immune system, or antibiotics that will kill off innocent bacteria along with the bad. That doesn't mean I should ignore it every time I get sick and hope for the best.